It was always likely that WiiWare would provide the perfect platform for the criminally overlooked puzzle genre. These kind of games have always been popular but given their nature they are often unfairly ignored when sitting next to higher-profile releases such as Super Mario and Metroid. With WiiWare already providing us with the likes of Dr. Mario, Pop, Toki Tori and the prospect of Tetris in the future, the puzzle genre is unlikely to be diluted on Nintendo's new download platform. The question is: how does a relatively unknown game like Magnetica Twist weigh up against the bigger names?
Magnetica Twist (known as Actionloop Twist in the Europe) is developed by the Mitchell Corporation and is based on their 1998 arcade game PuzzLoop. The game makes passing references to Bust A Move and Zuma (although given the times of release it's likely Zuma was heavily influenced by the original PuzzLoop). This instalment is based on the DS version which was released to high praise in 2006 and offers the same range of modes and gameplay, but given its WiiWare price tag, is somewhat cheaper than the DS counterpart.....
NintendoLife writes: "We were recently lucky enough to catch up with Etienne and Romain of Yullaby to talk a little bit about their upcoming WiiWare puzzler Magnetis. Etienne Périn is the main 2D/3D artist and lead game designer of Magnetis and Romain Gauthier is the music composer and sound designer of the game. You can find out what they had to say to Nintendo Life in the full interview below."
The Magnetica design is on the shallow side to begin with and when you add wonky motion control to the mix you find yourself with a game that falls far short of the best in the colored object matchin' puzzle genre. Coming from Nintendo this is very disappointing as this is one of the most mediocre products Diehard GameFAN have ever seen them attach their name to as a publisher. Don't support this kind of laziness; keep your Wii points for some of the great 3rd party WiiWare offerings.
The variety of ways Mitchell repackages the core game impresses. Quick Play's a pleasant time-waster, Challenge is an endurance run of increasingly awkward ball streams and Quest offers missions with specific criteria for completion. Enlist three friends and you can tackle a bevy of co-operative and battle scenarios sure to turn the air blue with marble-inspired cursing. Lack of Wi-Fi additions aside, it's the polished Dr. Mario approach to WiiWare all over again – only this time built on a great puzzler.
You'll love:
- Serious aural pleasure
- Cannon-propelled marbles
- Polished puzzle mechanics
You'll hate:
- Lack of Wi-Fi
- Not super deep
- Making the wrong shot
